


Toddler Steps

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Colors, F/M, OCD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 20:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15517824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Toddler Steps

She was working on it and it was getting better, but she still had a long way to go. 

“Y/N, how are you doing?” Spencer asked from outside. He learned after months that it was best not to be in the same room when she was trying to make these decisions. It had to be done free of outside stresses.

Inside, she was glancing between her color wheel and the reflection in the mirror over and over again. She had picked out a red dress with a black belt and blue jewelry, but it wasn’t working. It should have. The color wheel showed it. But as she looked in the mirror she could feel her heart start to race. “I’m okay. I’m sorry! I’m still going to be a minute.”

“It’s okay,” Spencer assured. Thankfully, the team knew of her OCD so if they were late the team would know why and understand. “Just breathe.”

His reminder shocked her into taking a deep breath in and out before turning toward her closet. “Maybe a blue belt and black jewelry,” she muttered to herself. “No it still doesn’t look right!”

Spencer’s heart broke for her because he knew what was going on in her head right now. She’d described to him exactly what it felt like. It was basically like a panic attack in the way it felt. Her hands would get a bit shaky and sweaty, her heart would race, her mind would start moving a mile a minute, and it was all because of colors. “Do you want me to come inside?”

“Please,” she said weakly.

When he rounded the corners, she had tears in her eyes. All the clothes she had pulled to the front of her closet had some sort of red in them because of what he was wearing - just blue jeans and a navy blue t-shirt - and she looked beautiful. “It’s not right,” she said. “I’m sorry. This is so stupid.”

Spencer stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s not stupid. It’s what’s going on in your brain.”

“I know. It’s just so annoying! I’m so tired of this.”

He kissed her forehead. “I know, but think of how far you’ve come. You used to spend your entire weekends planning out outfits for the upcoming week. If something didn’t go according to plan, you’d call in sick to work. Now, you choose your outfits in the morning and you always have a outfit in neutral colors that always works for you as an emergency outfit.”

Glancing up through tears, she nodded. “Yea. I think I’m going to try on one more outfit before I default to that one okay?”

“Take your time,” he replied softly. “Breathe. I’ll be right outside.”

After Spencer talking her off the ledge of a meltdown, she reached into the closet and grabbed a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, her red blazer and a navy blue bracelet. When she looked in the mirror, there was a moment where her heart skipped a beat because she’d been so afraid of spiraling out of control again, but then there was a wave of calm. This was good. “Spence, this one is good!” She yelled triumphantly. 

Quickly, he rounded the corner and pulled her into a kiss. “See, that took an hour when it used to take you the entire weekend.”

Her heartbeat had finally slowed to its normally pace. “I think we can go now.”

Only five minutes late leaving the house. A new record.

——

They did arrive a couple minutes late, but no one noticed and dinner was fine for the most part with the exception of Y/N straightening out her utensils no less than 24 times. 

With full stomachs, they headed toward the car to go back home. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yea, I’m alright. Garcia and Morgan sat next to each other and didn’t match so my head was screaming for the entire meal and the utensils were driving me fucking batty but otherwise I think I’m good.”

Spencer chuckled as he turned the key in the ignition. “Baby steps, right?”

“Yea definitely.”

——

At home, Y/N grabbed the most neutral pajamas she could find so that didn’t become an issue too and plopped on the couch.

“How about a movie?” Spencer asked from the bathroom.

“Sounds good. Which one?” 

They settled on a nice cheesy romantic comedy. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the DVDs had shifted a bit when Spencer pulled the movie out of the case, but she took a deep breath. “I’m not gonna move it. It’s okay.”

Spencer turned to look and went to move it back into place. “No, don’t,” she assured him. “That isn’t going to kill me if it stays just like that.”

“No, it won’t,” he said with a smile. She was making such strides. “You sure you don’t want me to move it?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled. “I think you’re taking toddler steps now.”


End file.
